Navigating the battleground: autism policy and human rights for children with autism spectrum disorders in Australia

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the Helping Children With Autism (HCWA) package, which is a public website on Australian autism policy with a particular consideration of how the HCWA package positioned parents when they engaged with this federal government initiative. The study also aimed to examine how and to what extent the HCWA package aligned with international human rights standards using the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This study was underpinned by a theoretical framework that combined the sociology of Zygmunt Bauman and the models of disability (charity, medical, social, human rights) with human rights. The nature and complexity of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) presents challenges to parents raising their child with ASD, which often results in uncertainty about their rights and responsibilities alongside those of the government, and State. In 2008 the Australian Government attempted to solve the policy problem of autism and implemented the HCWA package in response to parents’ pleas for help in raising their child with ASD (Palm Consulting Group, 2005, June 20). The HCWA package was the first autism specific policy in Australia and aimed to provide funding, support, and services for children with ASD and their families (Minister for Families Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, 2007).